On the 103rd Commencement Convocation held Monday, 29th May 2023 in Fendall
Good morning everyone, especially to our graduates, who are the main reason why we celebrate this 103rd graduation today; and to our visitors who have applied effort to attend this important event.
In a special way, let me recognize Honorable Matthew Gee Zarzar, Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the University of Liberia, our dynamic faculty and student-centered President, Prof. Dr. Julius Julukon Sarwolo Nelson, Jr., President of the University of Liberia; Prof. Dr. Moses M. Zinnah, Vice President for Academic Affairs of UL; Prof. Dr. Jonathan C. Taylor, Vice President and Executive Dean for Graduate Education and Research, Vice Presidents and Associate Vice Presidents of the University of Liberia, distinguished Colleagues and Members of the Deans Council, Honorable Convocation Speaker Hon. Asatu Bah-Kenneth, Deputy Commissioner General for Naturalization, Liberia Immigration Service (LIS), illustrious Deans and Academic Directors, Chairpersons and Faculty, Platform Guests, Distinguished graduating Class; The Fourth Estate, Family members and friends, well-wishers and the good people of Fendall.
It is my great honor to welcome Honorable Asatu Bah-Kenneth, Deputy Commissioner General for Naturalization, Liberia Immigration Service (LIS). Honorable Asatu Bah-Kenneth has kindly agreed to be our Convocation speaker today. Our guest speaker is credited with numerous achievements in national service which are difficulty to enumerate.
But, let me just mention that the Convocation Speaker is an illustrious Liberian mother and a distinguished law Enforcement Officer with vast knowledge in rule of law and justice, a dedicated advocate of Peace and security, an undertaking that is dear to our hearts, too. Madam Speaker, thanks for your presence and accepting to speak to our graduates.
We sincerely greet and welcome our distinguished Platform Guests who have favored us with their presence more than once. We are glad that they are friends of the University of Liberia. We welcome the representatives of diplomatic missions near Monrovia, institutions and organizations who accepted our invitation for today’s graduation.
We are pleased to welcome Honorable Thelma E. Duncan Sawyer, Deputy Minister for Administration, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and mother of Prof. Amos C. Sawyer College. Mrs. Sawyer is the widow of a distinguished Liberia statesman, the late Prof. Dr. Amos C. Sawyer in whose honor Liberia College was renamed. We are grateful that Mrs. Sawyer has devoted time to attend this graduation ceremony.
In 2022. Liberia College changed its name through a presidential proclamation, and you found yourselves studying in a college called the Prof. Amos C. Sawyer College of Social Sciences and Humanities. Your credentials will carry this new name, so please get used to it. The new name strengthens our college’s profile and links us even more to other vibrant and robust institutions across the globe.
In a special way, I recognize with pride and satisfaction the dynamic chairpersons and coordinators from the Amos C. Sawyer College of Social Sciences and Humanities, William V.S. Tubman College of Education (formerly Teacher’s College) and David A. Straz Sinje Technical and Vocational College. Also, our professors, faculty members and the members of our administrative staff. Together they have made the University of Liberia to what it is today. Our security personnel and janitors are so special in doing what they do best. For their time and dedication, they deserve our praise.
With great sadness, I must convey that our academic community has suffered a tragic loss of our staff.
During the academic semester, we lost a few instructional and administrative staff. We miss them. We are with their family and friends. Please observe a moment of silence to pay respect and homage to our fallen faculty members and staffs, some of whom helped to prepare our graduates.
It is my honor to bring greetings and acknowledge the presence of our special guests, family member, friends, faculty, and staff who have made huge efforts to join us today to celebrate the remarkable achievements of the 103rd graduating class. We wholeheartedly welcome you all and deeply appreciative and offer you our welcome.
I am excited by this opportunity to participate in this unique occasion and to join others across the Liberian society to celebrate the achievement of our graduates.
Today is an extraordinary day for our great institution and every member of this great family, especially the 214 graduates, who are the main reason why we celebrate this 103rd graduation today. This is a special day for the graduates and your parents are taking the time and making the effort in various homes to prepare a small party to celebrate your success.
Although this is not the greatest of achievement of your life, this historic achievement serves as your path to move forward with your education and accomplish your ultimate goals in fulfillment of your dream.
Today’s event is one of the most remarkable days where your parents will experience endless joy while witnessing their sons and daughters receive their diplomas from our three great historical institutions— Prof. Amos C. Sawyer College of Social Sciences and Humanities (formerly Liberia College) and the William V. S. College of Education (formally the William V. S. Tubman Teacher College) merged in 1951 to form the University of Liberia, and David A. Straz Sinje Technical and Vocational College situated in Grand Cape Mount County.
Today, Monday, May 29, 2023, the College will be conferring BA and BSW degrees on 214 candidates during this 103rd convocation ceremony taking place at the Fendall Campus, outside Monrovia.
Four years of hard studies, tough exams and practical research have produced a successful and praiseworthy result for 214 candidates are expected to earn BA and BSW degrees on from the Prof Amos C. Sawyer College of Social Sciences and Humanities, University of Liberia.
The 214 candidates include 115 females and 99 males, while candidates graduating with GPA 3.00 above are 36 of which 19 are females and 17 males. The valedictorian of the classs is a female with GPA 3.600.
They deserve to celebrate a remarkable new chapter in their academic journey. The candidates are: 133 from the Department of Sociology, 20 from the Department of Communication and Media Studies, 19 from the Department of Demography, 14 from the Department of Political Science, 14 from the Social Work Unit, 8 from the Department of Geography, 4 from the Department of the English and Language Studies, and 2 from the Department of History
Over the last one-half centuries, Amos C. Sawyer College has worked to build an institution with the adroitness to directly address the fluctuating academic challenges that the youthful population faces, and the college has grown over the century.
Dear Graduates, may this day define your future and serve as a reflection of who you can become as you move into the complex world to face a complex situation and tough responsibility.
Graduation is the start of everyone’s dream to grow and reach the top of success step by step. As you join the ranks of the successful alumni of this great institution, fly like an eagle as God protects and blesses you. You are strongly encouraged to use those skills of creativity and innovation that you have gained from this institution to overcome with ease those complex situation and tough responsibility. Let me share with you the wise words of Walter Disney that “If you can dream it, you can make it.” You may also take to heart these wise words.
Distinguished Graduates may this day define your future and serve as a reflection of who you can become as you move into the complex world to face a complex situation and tough responsibility. As your dean, teacher, and mentor, I need a special favor from you. I want you to be an agent of change with the courage to think outside the box and make an impact that is greater than yourself.
Be a true Ambassador and an international image of the University of Liberia. Do not be a vehicle of disunity, and lawlessness destruction, or trade your dignity for peanut to pull people down on invented accusation; learn to seek the truth.
I, therefore, encourage you to solidify your own values and ideas about the world by using an approach that integrates critical thinking, innovation, and artistic expression.
Be prepared to take risks and do not always claim to know the answer. As an agent of change, do not allow yourself to be used as a conduit of disinformation, fake news, violence, confusion and to be the source of bringing people down. Do not let fear stop you from standing for the truth. We know hard things are hard, yet they persevere.
Life is less trouble if you spend it lifting people up, not putting people down”, these inspiring and philosophically famous words of my late dad continue to ring a soberly challenging bell in my ears. He also reminded me that “the harder I work, the greater my chances and also told me to keep in mind that this world is a stage; we are all actors and actresses; we have our own entrances and exits of time; but some play many parts on the stage.
I’ve always challenged myself to work harder while helping to lift people up and strengthening through sharing to help others to learn and develop when they can. It’s never too late to do something if you are really committed to it, but make the effort to do it well, not putting people down since we are called to be captain of our fate and master of our own destiny.
Life may call us to rise to an occasion or wake us up to what is really important. But I have since realized how precious each second is on this earth, therefore, try to use your hard-earned praiseworthy education to help develop human minds, build others’ capacities, contribute positively to Liberia’s advancement, and help empower my compatriots.
It behooves all Liberians to be torchbearers in the quest and challenges of nation-building no matter what the situation. In our educational sector, intellectual capital is manifested by excellent academic results, which are in turn a product of the work done by the teaching and learning professionals.
Let me remind every member of the Graduating Class that your presence here today is not by mistake but through hard work, commitment, and determination to achieve your dream. This journey has been a rough and very difficult one, each and every one here has his or her story, for some positive while for others a negative and frustrating story.
Allow me to reflect on Siaka Kanneh’s inspiring journey that distinguishes him as a fine example to millions of others. I am moved by the inspiring story of one of your colleagues who is seated with you here today from the Department of Sociology, Anthropology and Criminology.
This story is worth telling because it manifests how determination and courage can be used to overcome barriers. This is the story of Siaka Kanneh, a student with extreme physical Disability.
Despite Mr. Siaka’s extreme disability, he never gave to academically compete with other students who are physically strong to reach his dream by earning a Bachelor of Arts degree in Sociology.
Mr. Siaka Kanneh is extraordinary, distinguished and a good example of positivity at the University of Liberia. He has broken barriers to join the ranks of the successful alumni of this great institution. Here is the brief and true account of Siaka’s story:
He is physically challenged but has not missed a single class day. As the story goes, Mr. Siaka would daily peddle his wheelchair from one classroom to another on the UL Fendall campus across, moving from one classroom to the other to attend classes and participate in other extra-academic activities.
Besides, he was always prepared to tussle with the physically able students to board buses to reach the campus to attend classes. Whenever he missed the institution’s buses to get on campus, he would try to use commercial vehicle, but drivers of these commercial vehicles saw it as a waste of time to stop for him because of his physical condition.
Therefore, the only option for Siaka was to use his wheelchair to peddle daily from Redlight Parker Paint Junction to the Fendel campus to attend classes.
One day he was exhausted to peddle his wheel to get on campus, therefore, he decided again to use the student bus but the rushing students who could not wait to board the bus pushed Siaka in the pool of dirty water at the bus stop in the Parker Paint Junction. Yes, indeed, this was one of the most heartbroken moments in Siaka’s educational journey.
A good Samaritan, a lady came to the rescue of Mr. Kanneh by buying water to wash the dirt off the body of Mr. Kanneh. It was from that movement that Mr. Kanneh made a vow never to go to the bus stop to get a bus to campus. He, instead chose to use his wheelchair to peddle his way to campus to attend classes.
I am proud of the courage and determination of Siaka Kanneh, The President of the University of Liberia, Pro. Dr. Julius Julukon Sarwolo Nelson is proud of the courage and determination, the Vice President of Academic Affairs of the university, Dr. Moses M. Zinnah is proud of the courage and determination and most importantly, the chairpersons, faculty, staffs, and students of Amos C. Sawyer College are proud of Siaka Kanneh today.
Graduates, please stand to applaud your colleague for the extraordinary and wonderful achievement to break through barriers to be part of today’s history-making.
Siaka Kanneh has made us believe strongly that anyone can achieve whatever he or she desires, no matter the obstacles and challenges, if one has the courage to press forward. Let me strongly remind you that the only person who can motivate you the most as you walk out of these great walls is you. Therefore, strive to fulfill your goals with ambition. Use your ambition as your inspiration to become a professional in the competing job market.
We are here today to celebrate and say farewell to our graduates of the year 2022. This is a proud moment not only for the graduates and their families, but also a proud moment for everyone who passed through these great walls and associate with our academic institution.
However, we are becoming more mature. Our students by their own definition consider the University as difficult to enter, Difficult to be and Difficult to leave. But by my own definition, I can say with pride that the university is: Unique to enroll, Unique to learn and unique to leave with joy, where dreams are fulfilled.
What our students may not know is that UL has served as the seat of tertiary education in Liberia and beyond the borders, the bacon of quality education where innovations and creativities are the hallmarks.
A quick look at statistics tells me that this year’s graduation consists of brilliant men and women, the future leaders including 64 graduates who participated a thoroughly but unique academic exercise to present and defense their undergraduate final oral thesis in front of a Seven-member academic jury comprising of: Prof. Dr. D. Elliott Wreh-Wilson, Prof. Dr Nathaniel Gbessagee, Cllr. Mark Bedor-Wla Freeman, Assistant Prof. Alexander O. Teaway, Chair; Mrs. Roseline Tomah-Weah, Co-chair; Mr. Roosevelt Tula, Mr. Abraham Fofana, Mr. Ernest Winderburk and Rev. Leviticus O. Kollie. The 64 graduates are from Six Departments in the Amos C. Sawyer College.
I am pleased to recognize these dynamic chairpersons from these six departments who are herewith us today. They are Associate Prof. Dr. Samuel Kortur, Assistant prof. Dr. Kula Thompson-Williams, Rev. Jethro S. Tamba, Assistant Prof. Richmond S. Anderson, Euriahs M. Togar and Mr. Joseph Geebro. Please join me to applaud them and the rest of other chairpersons, faculty members and administrative staffs of the university.
For this graduation, we add a general award for outstanding performance and participation in an academic exercise and we have established a new scholarship to honor the most outstanding student for research and oral presentation of thesis.
The Amos C. Sawyer Foundation which is chaired by Honorable Thelma E. Duncan Sawyer has graciously accepted our request to award the Sawyer College a fully funded Graduate Studies Scholarship to the graduate who was the “Most Outstanding” in the Final Thesis Oral Defense and Presentation
Based on the performances, five students, four females and a male were selected from the Departments of Geography, Social Work, English and Communication and Media Studies. After a thorough screening, the thesis Committee recommended three finalists of which one graduate has emerged as the “Most Outstanding and best of the best”. The winner will be announced during the recognition and presentation of certificates of distinction.
Th Five candidates are: Ms. Danielle T. Wornee of the Department of Social Work. Topic: A Need for Social Services in Orphanages In Liberia: A Case Study of the St. Benetta Orphanage Home on Pipeline, Lower Johnsonville, Liberia. Ms. Juma Patricia Sando of the Department of Geography. Topic: Evaluating Public Attitude and Behavior towards Waste Management in Red-Light, Gogbarchop Market. Mr. Dwilson Zawu of the Department of English and Language Studies. Topic: The Theme of Betrayal: A Case Study of Three Shakespearian Plays and Writings of Wilton Sankawolo. Ms. Rosetta Fardolo of the Department of Communication and Media Studies. Topic: Impact of Management Support on Public Relations Performance: A Qualitative Study Sampling the Views of Participants in Private and Public Institutions. Ms. Grace D. Moleyeaze of the Department of Communication and Media Studies. Topic: Exploring the Perceptions of Liberian Business Organizations on Social Media Adoption as a Stakeholder-Engagement Tool.
A solid academic education is what the University of Liberia delivers. However, we also want our students to become good citizens in today’s globalized world. We believe our students embody the great moral purpose of higher education we should never forget both to better our world today and to till the educational soil for tomorrow to enable them to contribute meaningfully.
Graduates, as you enter the world, you have much to be grateful for and to celebrate, even in the face of a very challenging future. I am thankful for our collective resilience and determination.
It is wonderful to see all that members of the graduating class have accomplished in pursuing their goals.
Graduates, your commitment to remain to the cause of achieving quality education in the face of challenging circumstance has committed everyone to celebrate you in a special manner. Every member of this distinguished graduating class desires to be here today to receive your hard-earned degrees.
Passionately, I request that you keep focus of those values and virtues, the quality of instructions and counsel that you received from our professional and dedicated faculty.
Without doubts, take advantage of your praiseworthy education to continually enrich knowledge and be competitive in the job market. Now, you are in a strong position to be of service to you parents, family, community, institution, and the entire country. Remember, you will always encounter competition from others in the market.
I therefore urge you to use all the persuasive tools of your education, and leadership skills acquired to win the academic battles ahead. I challenge you to take the hard-earned knowledge and skill into the Liberian society and beyond the borders of Liberia into the world.
Dear graduates, today we bid you farewell. Thank you for your many contributions. You are our best ambassadors. Spread the word that University of Liberia is a good place to be. And be assured that you find open doors whenever you pass by. We want to stay in touch.
CONGRATULATIONS
Prof Josephus M. Gray, Ph.D.
Associate Prof and Dean
Amos C.Sawyer College
